Improvement in machines foe making match-splints



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EMERY ANDREWS AND WILLI-AM TUGKR, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

Letters Patent No. 68,144, dated August 27, 1867. i

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T O ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that we, EMnnY ANDREWS and WILLIAM TUCKER, of Portland, in the county of Cumberland,

and State of Maine, have inventeda new and improved Machine for Manufacturing Match-Splints; and we de, hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,'forming part of this spccieation, in which- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal verticalsection of this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan or top View of the same. y

Figure 3 is a detached side eleva-tion of the knives in a larger sealethan the previous figures.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to certain improvements on a machine for making match-splints, for which a patent has been granted to us December 20, 1864. Y

The improvements consist in a rack arranged with slats, which arc strung on wires with washers interposed between them in such a manner that the match-splints can be firmly clamped between the slats, and the principal strain is thrown on the wires. rEhe rack is fed down by a compensating feed composed of a feedbar which is moved down against -the action of' springs by means ot' cams on the driving-shaft, and which is so constructed that it moves the rack for the, thickness of one slat for each-stroke of the head which pushes the cards against the knives. The slats of the rack are opened by. suitable wedges, so that the match-splints can readily enter between them. The cards are driven against the knives by a toothed feed-plate which drives the splints clear through between the knives. Said knives are firmly secured on .two screws supporting the ends thereof, and they are kept apart by washers interposed between them. Arpertion of the knives are placed inthe rear of the other, so that they do not all cut simultaneously, and the wood is relieved ota part of the compression which it would receive were all the knives ina line. The cutting edges of the knives are concave, whereby a drawing cut is produced each way, from the centre of the card, and the knife 'is less liableto follow the grain ot' the wood than it is when made with a. rectilinear cutting edge.

A represents a frame made of wood or any other suitable material, and provided with a. box, B, just wide enough to receive the cards, which are arranged in said box in a pile, each card being equal in'width to the length of the match-splints to be produced. It' desired the box B may be made in sections, each section c0ntaining its own pile of cards. An opening in the bottom end of this box allows the lowest card of the pile to escape, and this` lowest card in the pile is pushed against the knives C by a feed-plate, D, which is attached -to the reciprocating head E. Said feed-,plate is provided with teeth which tit between the knives, so that the cards are cut clear through,and the splints, as they leave the cutting mechanism, require no further separation. The knives C are secured in a frame or head, F', and they are supported by screws a, near their upper and lower ends, the cutting edges being between said screws, as shown in gs. 1 and 3 of the drawing. Said knives are kept at Vthe desired distance apart by lwashers, interposed between them, `and they are arranged in a zigzag position, or in two rows, 'one in front ofthe other, so that the wood, on being forced up against them, is not exposed to the full compression which it would have te sustain if all the knives were in line. The cuttingedges of the knives are concave, as shown in fig. 3, and thereby a drawing cut is produced each way from the centre, andthe knives are less liable to follow the grain of the wood than they do if their cutting edges are straight. As the splints are driven through between the knives they enter the rack F. This rack is composed of a series of slats, which are strung on Wires t', provided with screw-threads and nuts, and which are kept apart by suitable washers. The rack F is suspended from a strap, d, which passes over pulleys ef, and it is balanced by a wcighajG'. H is the feed-bar, which is slotted so as to pass over the rack F, and towhich the requisite feed motion is imparted by cams g, which act on tappet-levers t that connect by rods t' with the slotted feed-bar. The cams q are mounted on the driving-shaft, and from the sides ot' said cams project eccentric studs j which catch in slots in the crosshead E and impart tothe same the required reciprocating motion. As the cross-head advances, two or more wedges, c, attached to the same, pass in between the slats of the :ach and open the same so that they will admit the splints as the same are discharged from the knives. By the action of the feed-bar the rack is fed for a distance equal to the thickness of one slat and one splint, as has been fully described in our former patentrof December 20, 1864, and after all the slats have been filled the nuts on the wires t are tightened and the-rack is removed and replaced by another.

By this arrangement the operation of cutting matches is materially facilitated and the splints are readily introduced in and retained by the slats in the proper position for dipping.

What we claim as new, and desire' to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The compensating feed, which is so constructed that the rack is fed down by the thicknessof the card,

tbe wave 0r feed-bar being slotted, so that the rack slides through it, the slats b being opened by the wedges c, which are \seeured to the reciprocating head E, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The'construction and arrangement upon the reciprocating head E of the feed-plate D, whose forward end pushes the cards through between the knives C and betwcenithe slats of thc rack-F, as herein set forth, for the purpose specified. I

3. So arranging the knives C on the bars a that their cutting edges will be in a zigzag line for the purpose of decreasing the compression of the splint, substantially as set forth. i

4. Providing the knives with concave cutting edges, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

EMERY ANDREWS, WILLIAM TUCKER.

Witnesses:

GARDNER Woon, Jr., JAMES E. FERNALD. 

